Charlie, Did You Know?

And other Friday "Fun," 28 March 2025

I’m in a writing slump this week, and when that happens, I shift to other mediums. So, I finally made my video specially for my dear friend (sarcasm) and Knockoff Hitler Youth leader, Charlie Kirk. We have a brief but acrimonious history that also involves Elon Musk. Seriously, go read this post if you missed it the first time:

Here is my gift to Charlie. It is a parody of what I consider to be a musical abomination but what is to many evangelicals a beloved modern Christmas carol. I figure if 21st century theobros can mansplain the Virgin Mary, I can Christian-splain Charlie Kirk. Thus far, he’s ignoring me, which is probably best.

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Tuesday, April 1 at 8 pm EDT, we will have our monthly Zebra Dazzle, April Fools edition for paid subscribers. You will get the link closer to time. If you don’t want to be a paid subscriber for any reason at all, including you are a millionaire but you just don’t want to fund a ex-CIA officer’s late-middle-age reinvention because there are more deserving causes, just send me an email holly_berkley@yahoo.com and I will comp you.

We have fun at the Dazzles, we are (obviously) dazzling, we share what is going on in our lives, we drink beverages of our choice. Come one, come all.

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This week’s #OneThing has included what has become my regular Wednesday routine, the Sojourners interfaith vigils at the Capitol; my regular Sunday thing, an art party for Ukraine (

Dale Oak

helpfully made a tool for me to grade participants’ work); a Spanberger campaign volunteer meeting; coffee with a friend to do more volunteer work for Principles First; and some time for reflection and prayer in my backyard of the National Mall. I love that place, even though my visits have become bittersweet, like spending time with a seriously ill friend.

I also saw an amazing play by a South African playwright and legendary anti-apartheid activist, John Kani, called Kunene and the King. It was about a Black nurse caring for a dying white actor and poignantly explored the racial baggage that all South Africans carry. It wasn’t the linear, pat story of forgiveness that those who seek it want. It was a messy, meandering, wrestling match between two complicated, imperfect people.

After the Wednesday vigil, a happened upon a National Parks site I didn’t even know existed! the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument. It’s an old house on Capitol Hill that served as the headquarters for the National Woman’s Party, the organization that pushed women’s suffrage across the finish line.

In these times, learning, preserving, and supporting history is resistance. I hope that site remains open.

Susan B Anthony's desk, Elizabeth Cody Stanton's chair (they both died before the NWP was started but their families donated these items to the organization); and a card catalog of research on every member of Congress. The NWP helped pioneer modern lobbying, using personal approaches to members they had determined might be open to their cause.

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A few book and podcast recommendations:

• I’m finishing up the novel Honor by Thrity Umrigar. It’s the story of an Indian American journalist who reluctantly goes back to India to cover an honor killing only to confront her own horrible past. Another tale of toxic religion and what happens when belief becomes more important than human beings.

• You’ve got to listen to When the Wolves Came, a podcast by

  Ruth Braunstein
  that tells story of the Christian Nationalist takeover of white evangelicalism and the people who have tried to resist.
  Caleb E. Campbell
  and
  Jared Stacy
  are featured so far. And let me just say—y’all know I have serious issues with even “mainstream” white evangelicalism and deeply believe its entire theology needs a major scrub—but these pastors and so many others who have loudly said NO and paid a heavy, devastating, sometimes health-threatening price have my utmost respect.

• You’ve also got to listen to Escalation, a podcast about the history of the US-Ukraine relationship by Lawfare, Goat Rodeo,

  Benjamin Wittes
  and
  Anastasiia Lapatina
  . If you think foreign policy is always dry and boring, prepare to be amazed. It is riveting.

Grace and peace, friends. Go well. Godspeed.